Mumbai: Over 80 'stressed' engineers quit BMC in past two years

Employees say many are quitting their 'relaxed government job' because of increased transparency in the system, which expects officers to be more responsible for their work

It seems the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is no longer a popular place to work. In the past two years, more than 80 officers from several departments have bid goodbye to the civic body by taking voluntary retirement or resigning. One of the main reasons for the sudden increase in people quitting their ‘relaxed government job’ is more transparency in the system, which expects officers to be more responsible for their work.

Due to the vacancies created by the quitting engineers, senior engineers in the BMC are looking after several departments, thus facing increased work pressure. File pic

The data obtained from BMC’s General Administration Department (GAD) shows that various officers from Chief Engineer to Junior Engineer have left their jobs. According to the records, in 2012-13 (April 2012 to March 2013) 40 engineers have quit.

The numbers went up in 2013-14 as more than 45 engineers left the corporation. In the past two years, the Roads department particularly has seen many changes, as two of its former chief engineers, Satish Badve and D R Dixit, have opted for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). Even Deputy Chief Engineer (Eastern Suburb) V G Goswami and Executive Engineer Girish Patil have opted for voluntary retirement.

Employees sayBMC Engineers’ Association’s general secretary, Sainath Rajadhyaksha, said, “Nowadays it is very difficult to work in the BMC since engineers are under huge pressure from corporators, the RTI and top officers. They do their job well, but top officers hold them responsible and suspend them if anything goes wrong though they may not be guilty. This makes them constantly afraid.”

Rajadhyaksha added, “Now there is a huge demand of experienced civil engineers in private firms. These firms pay very well and their work is also recognised in a good manner. The stress level is also less as compared to a BMC job.”

“One of the reasons engineers opt for VRS is due to offers from private consultancy firms that pay them very well. Many officers who quit or retire are hired immediately by private companies, as they have thorough knowledge of their subject,” said a senior official from GAD.

Another officer from City Engineer Department said, “In the past few years many of our experienced engineers have quit. This led to major vacancies in their respective departments and, thus, many senior engineers are looking after several departments. This leads to immense pressure and work is also affected.”